Top Dems are cool to FISA deal

By Daniel W. Reilly

06/19/08 02:01 PM EDT

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Thursday he could not support a compromise on controversial electronic surveillance legislation, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is also cool to the proposal, making it unclear how much support the legislation will get in the Senate.

While nobody is suggesting the bipartisan breakthrough on an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is in trouble, it’s clear that many liberal Democrats will be disappointed in a measure that provides a modest level of lawsuit immunity to telecommunications firms that helped the Bush administration with warrantless wiretaps. While Republicans and Democrats are hailing the compromise, privately some GOP staffers are crowing that they won more concessions in the negotiations.

“I have said since the beginning of this debate that I would oppose a bill that did not provide accountability for this administration’s six years of illegal, warrantless wiretapping,” said Leahy. “This bill would dismiss ongoing cases against the telecommunications carriers that participated in that program without allowing a judicial review of the legality of the program. Therefore, it lacks accountability measures that I believe are crucial.”

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) said what other liberal Democrats are saying privately: Democrats "capitulated" to the White House.

"The proposed FISA deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation," Feingold said. "The House and Senate should not be taking up this bill, which effectively guarantees immunity for telecom companies alleged to have participated in the president’s illegal program, and which fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans at home. Allowing courts to review the question of immunity is meaningless when the same legislation essentially requires the court to grant immunity. "

But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), risking backlash from the liberals in his caucus, defended the compromise that he negotiated with Republicans.

"This bipartisan bill balances the needs of our intelligence community with Americans’ civil liberties and provides critical new oversight and accountability requirements,” Hoyer said. “It is the result of compromise, and like any compromise is not perfect, but I believe it strikes a sound balance. Furthermore, we have ensured that Congress can revisit these issues because the legislation will sunset at the end of 2012.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) praised the compromise, saying the bill "gives our intelligence community the tools it needs and the public the civil liberty protections it deserves" while rejecting full immunity for the telecomm companies.

"While this bill isn’t perfect, the perfect should never be the enemy of the good," said Emanuel.

Reid said that the Senate would likely take up both the FISA bill and the war supplemental bill early next week.

Although Reid has not made a definitive statement on how he will vote on the measure, his spokesman Jim Manley said the measure "unfortunately establishes a process where the likely outcome is immunity for the telecommunications carriers who participated in the president¹s warrantless wiretapping program."

On Tuesday, Reid told reporters he would likely not support the newest compromise.

While Reid has voiced his opposition to the immunity for provisions, he was careful Thursday to praise some aspects of the bill.

“From what I see, there have been some improvements made [to the bill],” said Reid, referring provisions that would allow an inspector general investigation of the program and a provision governing the exclusivity of the FISA court.